Posted on 03/29/2016 1:41:46 PM PDT by tumblindice
Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where my flowers is. There aren't any because I was too lazy to plant bulbs. I've been here ten years and decided maybe it was time to post a thread. And that some of you might be able to use my five years experience working in a small engine repair shop. I just gave mine the spring thing, and am smelling faintly now of the tang of gasoline.
OK, there's your lawnmower in your garage, shed, barn--or maybe you left her with gas in the tank sitting out in the freezing rain and snow all winter. (You may have a problem later.) First make sure she's not loade--I mean, make sure the spark plug pigtail is pulled off the plug before you start putting your hands under the deck, unless you want a new nickname: "Lefty". Make sure the pigtail is nowhere near the plug. I'm assuming you have a standard lawnmower, mine is a self-propelled with a Briggs & Stratton engine, but the same principles apply if you have a Tecumseh or whatever. Tip her on her side and let the handle rest on something solid. Make sure it's not going to fall over on you. (From here on I'm going to assume common sense.) I don't have everything in place because there are steps I follow in changing the oil. Do the oil second, after the blade, especially if you haven't run the mower to warm up the oil. Find a socket that fits the blade bolt (the metal thing over or under the blade is called the blade clutch), and you may have to horse it off or spray it with WD-40. Oil change. There's an oil plug close to the blade clutch on the sump underside. You may have to clean the area to find it. My Briggs uses a 3/8" square holed plug. Your 3/8" extender should fit. Position a drain pain under the mower. `Lefty loosey. (This isn't an AK-47 muzzle thread.) `Right is tight, lefties are loose.' When you get the plug out, lower the mower. Now, go find a spark plug socket that fits your spark plug. (After you're done, label it, 'mower socket' so you don't spend 15 minutes next year finding one that fits.) Put the socket securely on the plug and hit the socket driver with the heel of your hand. Stick the plug in your shirt pocket. After the oil drains, make sure the oil plug is clean along with the area around the drain hole and hand start it. Just snug it up, no need to horse it on. Your engine housing is probably soft aluminum. Add a little 10W-30 weight oil. If all you have is left over 10W-40 from your car, that's better than nothing but it was designed for cold weather. Look at the little CJ8 plug to make sure it's not burned. Prolly easier to just replace it, but I use a brush on mind and make sure the gap is OK (.30), and then put compressed air in it to make sure nothing but the business-end of the plug is going into the combustion chamber All right back to the mower blade. Take the blade either to your grinder or where you plan to file it. Wear gloves. Scrape off the dried grass crust with a screwdriver or putty knife. There's no need to put a razor edge on it. That will just curl under with time. Try to center it on something thin to see if it balances. You left the spark plug unhooked, right? Hand-tighten the blade bolt. (Is the shiny side of the blade `up'? Is it secured correctly to the blade clutch?) Almost there. Check your oil, add a little more. Next, take out your accordion fan air filter. If it's in bad shape, replace it. Otherwise give it a good cleaning with an air gun or soft brush and put it back in the air filter housing. Add more oil carefully up to the mark. If you over-fill and don't have a suction gun, you get to repeat removing the drain plug. Your little engine is air cooled and depends on enough clean oil so it doesn't meld it's piston rings to the cylinder wall, an ugly thing to see. Hand screw your new, cleaned, correctly gapped--you can get a plug keychain spark plug gapper for about a buck at the Advance Auto counter--spark plug into the cylinder head (spark plug hole). Again, there's no need to horse it. Just hand tight, then snug it up. The cylinder head is also aluminum. Push the pigtail firmly onto the spark plug. Add fresh 87 grade gas. Especially if you left her out for Old Man Winter to ravage you filthy swine! Or you forgot to add Stabil to the gas tank or to run it until it ran out of gas. If not, try to get that gas out before adding new. If you have a primer give it a couple more pumps than you do when you're wearing a tank top this summer. Here we are: pull on her tail. Mine started first time, HA! No go? Problems in starting are usually 90% fuel. If you can see spark between the plug electrodes. the problem is fuel. You can try taking the filter out and dripping gas into the carburetor. (Pull the plug) If that starts it, it may try to die so keep priming until it is running regular and let it run until it flushes out what may be fuel gums that were blocking your fuel line or carb orifices. Still won't run? This is mower maintenance, not repair but I'll check back in a while to see if there are any questions or comments. And I hope this is helpful to those of you, like me, who mow your own dam lawn.
Perfect. You’re a gentleman and a scholar! Thanks.
Yeah, I’m back from dinner and red-lining.
Paragraphs!
That being said: the only maintenance I do in spring, is put gas in it and go.
I prep it at the end of season in the fall.
I do it all again too sometime in August. FYI, if your grass has white tips, it’s a sign your blade is dull.
Nice to talk about something other than bitter political stuhrm und drang, ain’t it?
Blade are best when they’re sharp. Dull blades: Bad.
This lawn-boy was about a 1982 self propelled. It had been my dad’s and he probably frowned from heaven when I got rid of it. I had mine from about 78 or just before the brake/clutch blade guard requirement went into effect. I had both broken back in 2011 and only wanted to repair one so I had dad’s repaired but it did not hold up.
My old 78 was about worn out but it was not self propelled. I got a good thirty years out of it. First fifteen was mowing a third of an acre every time.
The tiller is just a small craftsman, but it works well for a small garden. Arizona soils don’t lend themselves to gardens unless you want to flood irrigate about every thirty-six hours.
Great content & writing! I’ll be your editor anytime.
A late model Stihl chainsaw trick I learned the hard way: I bought a new Stihl chainsaw a couple of years ago that has a 3-way “Stop/Run/Choke” lever and I had a heck of a time getting it to start...found out the hard way to just put it in “choke” for 1 or 2 pulls (engine will just barely try to catch) and then put in in “run” and pull and it will take right off.
One pull too many in “choke” will flood it every time!!
I was used to other 2-strokes and staying in choke until the engine started and then switching quickly to “run”...this isn’t a good strategy with a newer Stihl 2-stroke.
(Also, California “crap-gas” blends don’t help!)
Well, today I managed to get it started after about 20 minutes of trying. Then as I was almost ready to drive it out of the garage, I heard a large SNAP!!! coming from the engine department. Then the thing wouldn't start. Something is broken.
Now since it's old and we've already had it repaired two or three times, should we fix it as it will be real difficult to sell a broken mower? But the repair will probably cost several hundred dollars.
We had already bought a new riding mower, and were going to sell the old one. But now we don't know whether to get it repaired or just junked...if the latter is possible.
If you've got a mower with one of those little vacuum-operated fuel pumps on it that dries out and loses prime over the winter, you can get the mower started with a propane torch. Unscrew the tip and pull that little "pill" out of the stem and set it aside. Open the valve up all the way, stick it down the carb throat and turn it over. It'll start right up and run on the propane until the fuel pump gets the carb filled back up.
Thanks
I have donated lawnmowers, when replacing over the years, to the high school. They use for shop class, and they also offer a mower tune-up/blade sharpening service each spring.
We used to have a guy who would come to the house. He had a big van, like the UPS trucks. “The Engine Doctor” was his business name. And he would come and to the minor mower service each year, for a great price. But, alas... he died. Seems like it would be a lucrative business for someone with the right skills. He would work on mowers, snow blowers, all of the yard care machines.
Put it out on the curb with a “best offer” sign on it, and if no one bites, change the sign to “Free” after a few days.
“My riding mower will not start. I have a new battery and a new solenoid. What should i ceck next? Its a troybilt with b & Stratton engine. When i turn the key, nothing happens. I suspect something electrical. I have a volt meter/tester(?) if that would help.”
No crank is pretty simple. If there’s no click from the solenoid it means the battery power is not getting thru to the solenoid to trip the circuit open to the starter. You’ve replaced the battery and solenoid already so the fault is likely in the other end of the circuit, the solenoid grounding. There should be a white ground wire on the solenoid. Make sure that has a good path to ground.
Most times a bad ground can be fixed by tracing and re-seating the far end connection to restore grounding. It may even be at the Neg. battery terminal.
Our guy was “Vinny’s Mower Service,” located in a falling-down building (always “For Sale”) up at the next stop light. He was there for at least ten years and always had all the business he could handle, even had to hire help.
I envy your ability to get ethanol free gas. It’s a 60-70 mile drive for me.
Sir! That is *not* “Q”. That is “grilling out.” A worthwhile endeavor, to be sure, but not Q.
Q involves low and slow, often with pork, but sometimes with beef (especially brisket or ribs) or chicken.
Thus ends the lesson.
I’ve been servicing my lawn mowers for over 30 years, including changing out blades and never once did I bother to remove the spark plug cable. Except when I’m actually replacing the spark plug.
A good link but keep an eye out. Some not on the list erect banners all the time stating that they are etholnal free.
Most boaters will know here to get it.
I meant most boaters will know where to get it.
BTW do not use any type of air on an accordion filter unless it’s on a dryer. Only tap it out. Even the normal humidity in the air can shorten it’s life. Same with vacuuming it.
Just a follow up to my riding mower issue. By jumping the large posts on top of the solenoid, it cranked and I was able to start the mower.
It looks like the circuit is incomplete. I’ll check all the connections. Thanks to you all for the helpful tips.
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